Lock-controlling device.



No. 656,34I. Patented Aug. 2|, |900. H. G. CARLETUN.

LUCK YGIIIITROLLING DEVICE.

(Application filed Nov. 9, 1899.)

my@ @is "NITE'D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRXT GUY CARLETON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE CARLETONELECTRIC COMPANY, OF- SAME PLACE.

LCK-CONTROLLING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION' forming part of Letters Patent No. 656,341, dated. August21, 1900.

Application tiled November 9l 1899. Serial No.'736.367. (No model.) A

To @ZZ wiz/0m it may concern,.-

Beit known that I, HENRY GUY CARLETON, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York, county of New York, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Lock-ControllingDevices, f ully described and represented in the following specificationand the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to certain improvements in lock-controllingdevices, and is intended more particularly for use in connection with aseries of locks which control the means of access to flre-escapes inhotels and apartment-houses. The invention is, however, adapted for usein relations other than that indicated 'and is not therefore to belimited to the particular use. stated.

In hotels, apartment houses, and other similar buildings as now usuallyconstructed the ire-escapes are accessible'on the different floorsthrough a room or rooms which are intended to be occupied by guests orresident-s. The doors are provided with the usual locks, of which theoccupants of the rooms hold the keys, and in case of fire the doors aresupposed to be opened by a hall attendant who has the pass-key or by theoccupants themselves. It often happens, however, that an occupant of aroom is out or, if in, fails to notice the sounding of a lire-alarm orgoes down the tire-escape withouthaving opened the door, or that the irebreaks out in such a place as to render the door inaccessible to theattendant, or inthe alarm and confusion caused by the ire the attendantfails to perform his duty and unlock the doors, so that the fire-escapeswhen needed are not accessible.

It is one of the objects of this invention to provide a series of locks,which are preferably, though not necessarily, electrically operated,with a common controlling means by which all the locks may be openedsimultaneously, and at the same time to so constructthe locks that eachlock may be independently operated without interfering with theoperation of the other locks.

A further object of the :invention is to so arrange a system ofelectrically-controlled locks that all the locks may beuopcrated sinalsor alarms which may, when all the' locks are simultaneously operated,notify the occupant of eacn room that his lock has been operated andwhich may also, if desired," act as a general alarm for the rooms in thevicinity of the one inwhioh the lock is located.

Vith these and other objects in view the invention consists in certainconstructions and in certain parts, improvements, andcornbinations,which will be hereinafter described, and fully pointed outin the claims hereunto appended. A

In the accom panyiu g drawings,which form part of this specification,and in which like characters of reference indicate like parts, Figure lis a view, partly in section, illustrating a portion of a buildingequipped with a flreescape and showing the preferred inanner ofprotecting the circuits. Fig. 2 is adetail sectional view of a form ofelectric lock which may be employed. Fig. 3-is a detail viewillustratinga form of circuit-controller for each lock which may beemployed. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating an arrangement ofcircuits which may be employed. l

Referring to the drawings, l indicates a building the several floors ofwhich are provided with ire-escap'e landings 2 of any usual or approvedconstruction. These landings are or may be connected in any suitableway, as by-ladders 3. The fire-escapes are shown, as is usual in suchcases,as accessible through windo\vs,which may be located in one or moreof the apartments of the building. Each of the doors of the apartmentswill be provided, as is usual, with a lock. lVhile the lock e1n- 'ployedmay be of any suitable form or description, it will preferably be of theconstruction shown in my United States Patent IOO No. 508,321, grant-edAugust 2, 1898-, the lock being generally of the construction shown inFig. 2. Reference is made to the said patent for a full description ofthe lock. For the purposes of this application it is sufficient to saythat the lock consists of a sliding bolt 4,- held to its duty by asuitable spring 5. The lock is provided with la suitable cross-bar 8, towhich are connected rods 9, the rods being in turn connected by across-bar 10,which lies in the path of and is operated by a suitable cam1l, fixed on the shaft 12 of the doorknob. 4To the bar 8- are fixedmovable polepieces 13, extending through stationary magnet-coils 14 andresting against the armature 7, before referred to. It will beunderstood that when the magnets 14 are energized by' closing thecircuit through them the pole-pieces 14 will attract the armature 7. Ifnow the pole-pieces be drawn back by rotating the shaft 12 and causingthe cam 11 to operate against the cross-bar 10, the bolt 4 will be drawnbackward and the door can be opened. If, however, the knob be turnedwhen the magnets are'denergized, the polepieces 13 will be drawn backwithout attracting their armature,and the locking-bolt 4 will y remainin position.

Any suitable form ofcircuit-controller for the circuit for the magnetsmay be provided by which the persons entitled to access to the room mayclose the circuit, so that the bolt may be slid and the door opened.Preferably, however, the circuit-controller will be of the form andconstruction shown in my cepending application, Serial No. 731,391, ledSep` tember 23, 1899. A detaileddescription of this"circuit-controlleris not necessary, and for the purposes of this application it issufficient to say that the circuit-controller consists of a key-operatedrevolving barrel 15, carrying a circuit-closing projection 16. Thiscircuit-closing projection'when the barrel 15 is rotated strikes a pairof terminals 17 18, forcing them together, and thus closing a circuit,which is preferably an alarm -circuit. Mounted in the revolving barrel15 is another barrel 19, which is preferably locked to the barrel 15 bya series of'pins, (not shown,) the lock being in 'this respect of theordinary pin-lock type. Thisbarrel 19 is provided with a circuit-closingprojection 20, which when the barrel is rotated strikes a terminal 21,the circuits being so arranged that'the projection 2O is one terminal ofthe lock-circuit and the projection 21 is the other terminal of thelock-circuit. The lock-circuit also includes a terminal 22, which, asshown, is a spring-terminal, and a projection 23 on the barrel 15.` Fromthis description it will be seen that when the barrels 15 and 19 arerotated together, as they will be in case any attempt is made to openthe lock by inserting in the keyhole 24 (shown in Vthe key escutcheon25, Fig. 2) a key which does not release the pin connection between thetwo barrels, the lock-circuit will be broken by the .disturbing the restof the locks.

kcircuit includes the contact 20.

The circuits employed are preferably arranged as generally indicated inthe diagram in Fig. 4. B indicates any suitable source of electricenergy-as, for instance, an ordinary battery. From the battery is led awire 30, and from the wire 30 are led branch wires 31, said wiresleading to the lock-magnets 14 controlling the bolts 4. From the otherside of the magnets 14 are led wires 32,'said wires leading to thebarrel -19 of theV controller before described. From the contact 21 isled a wire33, said wire joining a wire 34, which in turn joins a wire35, leading to the battery. The wire 35 runs from the battery toacontactpoint 36 in a suitable switch 37, this switch beinglocated inany suitable position,as in the hotel-office 26. Leading from the arm 38of the switch is another wire 39. From this wire are led a series ofwires 40, which wires communicate with any suitable alarm-as,forinstance, bells 41. From the other side of the bells 41 are led Wires42, which communicate with the wires 31, which, as has been before said,are connected to the wire 34. Wires 43 connect the wire 32 with the wire39. With the circuits arranged as described it will be seen that whenany one 'of the cylinders 19 is operated by the proper key the circuitwill be closed from the battery through the wires 30 3l to thelock-magnets, from the lock-magnets through the wires 32, the cylinder19, the contact 20, the contact 21, and the wires 33, 34, and 35 to thebattery. It is apparent, therefore, that each of the locks can beindependently operated by persons holding the keys or other means ofopening the locks without In case of fire, however, when it is desiredto render `the {ire-escapes accessible through the rooms, the clerk inthe hotel-office or any other person at any other suitable point turnsthe switcharm 38. Acircuit is now established fromthe battery throughthe wire 35, switch 35 38, the Wire 39, and the wires 43 and 32 to thelockmagnets. From these magnets the current goes through the wires 3land 30 back to the battery. At the same time the circuit :is alsoestablished through the branch wires 42, the bell-magnets, and the'wires40 to the wire 39, and thence through the various connections describedto the battery. W'hen this circuit is established, all the locks in theseveral apartments are placed in condition to be operated, and at thesame time the bells are sounded. This notifies the occupants of theseveral rooms that their locks have been placed in condition to beoperated, and if the IIO 'ing to the fire-escapes are unlocked.

bells also 'act as agene'ral alarm the occu-V pants of the adjoiningrooms are notified that fire has broken out and that the doors lead- Ifthe bells 41 do not act as a general alarm, a general alarm will ofcourse be sounded from the office or in any other suitable manner andthe occupants of the several rooms arenotified of the fire and from aprevious understanding will be aware that the doors leading to thefire-escapes are unlocked.

It is of course important that the circuitwires controlling the severallocks be protected from iire as far as possible. In order to effectthis, the wires are led either from the office or from Ithe centraloperating` point through a protected conduit 50, the protection forwhich may consist of asbestos or any other suitable material. Thisconduit 50 is led outside the building at any suitable point, preferablyas near a point as possible to the oflice or other centralcontrolling-point. It then joins an iron or other suitable conduit 51,which, if desired and as shown, may be a part of the supportingstructure for the fireescape. From this conduit 5l are led shortconduits 52, these conduits running to the several rooms in which thelocks are located. By thus running the wires through a protectedconduitin the building and locating them outside the building in an iron orother suitable conduit they are protected as far as possible from theaction of the fire and the circuits therefore remain'undisturbed, sothat they are operable for as long a period of time as possible afterthe fire breaks out. It will be further seen that by the arrangement ofcircuits and alarms shown should any attempt be made to'operate any ofthe locks by short-circuiting them through the main connections thealarms which are in circuit with the locks will be sounded and theoccupants of the rooms notified that an attempt is made to open thelocks. l

It is to be understood that the system which has been before described,while particularly applicable to hotels or apartmenthouses, can be usedin any place where it is desired to control a series of locks from acentral point and at the same time to have the locks independentlyoperable.

It is to be further understood that the various connections andconstructions by which the invention is carried into eifect may bewidely varied. Any suitable form of lock may be used and any suitableform of circuitcontrollers for the locks may be used.V 'lhe invention isnot, therefore, to be limited to the specific constructions andconnections which have been shown and described.

What I claim isi l. The combination with a series ofelectrically-operated locks,of suitable circuit connections,acircuit-controlling device by which all the locks may be operatedsimultaneously,

'suitable circuit connections and a circuitcontrolling device locatednear each lock whereby any lock may be operated independently of theother locks, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a series of locks, of an electrically-operatedcontrolling 4mechanism for each lock, circuit connections including allthe controlling mechanisms, a circuit-controller for said circuitconnections, whereby all the locks may be operatedlsimultaneously,independent circuit connections for each lock, and a circuitcontrollerfor each of said connections located near each lock whereby it may beoperated independently, substantially as described.

The combination with a series of locking-bolts, of a series oflock-controlling mag-- nets, one for each holt, means controlled from acommon point for energizing all the magnets simultaneously, and meanslocated near eachmagnet for energizing it separately, substantially asdescribed.

4. The combination with a series of locks, of means whereby all thelocks may be operated simultaneously, means whereby any lock may beoperated independently of the other locks,aseries of alarmmechanisms,and means whereby the alarm mechanisms are operated when allthe locks are operated simultaneously, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a series of electrically-operated locks,ofsuitable circuit connections and devices whereby all the locks may beoperated simultaneously, a series of alarm mechanisms in said circuit,and suitable circuit connections and devices whereby any lock may beoperated independently of the other locks, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a series of locks, of an electrically-operatedcontrolling mechanism for each lock, circuit connections including allthe controlling mechanisms, a series of alarms in said circuitconnections, a circuit-controller for said circuit connections, wherebyall the locks may be operated simultaneously, independent circuitconnections for the controlling mechanism of each lock, and acircuit-controller for said connections whereby each lock may beoperated independently, substantially as described.

7. The combination with a series of bolts, of a series ofcontrolling-magnets one for each bolt, said magnets operating to placethe bolts in condition for movement when energized, a circuit connectionfor energizing all the magnets simultaneously, a series of alarmmechanisms in said circuit connections, and circuit connections forcontrolling each magnet independently of the other magnets,substantially as described.

S. The combination with a series of electric locks, of suitable circuitconnections,whereby all the locks may be simultaneously operated, and aseries of alarm mechanisms located in said connections, substantially asdescribed.

9. The combination with a series of locks, each lock including acontrolling-magnet, cir--l IOO IIO

cuit connections including magnets of all the locks, a commoncontrolling'circuit device for these circuit connections, circuitconnections for each of the locks, and a. key-operatedcircuit-controlling device for each of these connections, substantiallyas described.

lO'. In a hotel or other similar building having avire-escape accessiblefrom different rooms thereof, the combination with vthe doors of therooms, of a series of locks, one for each door, electric controllingdevices for the locks, suitable circuits and a circuit-closing devicewhereby all the controlling devices may be operated from a common point,and a suit-able circuit; and a circuit-closing device near each lockwhereby each of the controlling devices may be separately operated,substantially as described.

11. In a hotel or other similar building having a tire-escape accessiblethrough different rooms thereof, the combination with the doors of therooms, of a series of electric locks, circuit connections including allthe locks, means for controlling the circuit connections from a commonpoint, alarm mechanisms in said circuit connections whereby the locksmay be all operated and the alarms sounded from a common point, andmeans for operatalarm mechanisms in the circuit connections, v

circuit connections for each of the locks, and a key-operatedcontrolling device for each of said circuit connections, substantiallyras described. A

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

HENRY GUY CARLETON. Witnesses:

A. A. V. BOURKE, BENJ. C. VAN GOTT.

